Israel is on the offensive and is determined to stay so. Having opened a second front on the ground in the war after remotely exploding gadgets and devices and bombing parts of Beirut, it is likely to press on with its invasion of Lebanon which started early on Tuesday morning.
It was dripping with irony that, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking on the phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night about how crucial it was to prevent escalation of the conflicts, troops were being amassed on the border with Lebanon and within hours had begun “limited, localised and targeted raids” against Hezbollah.
In his words at the United Nations forum and in the actions of his forces that have been ordered to attack the Hamas in Gaza Strip, the Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Mr Netanyahu has displayed a brazen disregard to what the rest of the world is saying about the need for restoration of peace in the Middle East.
Israel’s actions are in no way an insult to the good offices of Mr Modi in reminding leaders like Mr Vladmir Putin and Mr Netanyahu that this is not the era of war. It has always been India’s position that there is no place for terrorism in the world and even acts of aggression against it are justified.
Israel is, however, not waging a war only against terror as much as a multi-pronged battle against existential threats it sees in the acts of such militant groups that indiscriminately attack, maim and kill across borders and take hostages of men, women and children like the Hamas did in its strike on Israel on October 7.
A broader and more prolonged operation in Lebanon would mean that Israel is trying to reap the whirlwind at an opportune moment when a powerful enemy in the Hezbollah are leaderless now after bombing raids had killed as many as seven of the top leadership, including long-time chief Hassan Nasrullah who Israel declared was not a terrorist but “the terrorist”.
It is moot whether there is any moral justification for Israel to press on against all enemies and at such severe cost in terms of collateral damage among the civilian population comprising the Palestinians of Gaza — about 47,000 lives — and the West Bank — and the people of Lebanon.
History will judge Mr Netanyahu as the ultimate hawk of Israel who should stand condemned as much of Israel’s aggressive actions that he keeps ordering may be to preserve his existence as the Prime Minister of the Jewish nation.
Hamas will be blamed for the barbaric attack on Israel that began this phase of the war, but Israel has taken retaliation way beyond any justifiable counter measures any nation would take if its territorial sovereignty were breached.
It is only Iran’s patience, or because of its strategic dilemma in that it would not like to risk being directly in the conflict that its proxies have been waging for a couple of decades, that this conflict is not escalating into a wider region war that may invite a global catastrophe.
